On the playground is where I spent most of my days

Sooo I had this really awesome post drafted on my trip to Philadelphia aaand Blogger deleted it for being too awesome. But really, it was like 30 pages long with pictures and historical facts. So now I'll take it in parts so Blogger doesn't flip out again.

PART ONE

Ashley and I sang the theme to "The Prince of Bel Air" all day. Actually, just the first line because it says Philadelphia and that's the only one we know. All of these pictures are Ashley's because it was raining and snowing on us all day and her camera is waterproof. We were braving the elements that day.

We tried really hard to sleep on the bus because we were up really early. That was difficult, but we sat up on the top of this double decker bus and had an awesome view driving into the city.

soooo earrrllyyy

lower east side dc

classic bus sleeping pose

or you can try the fetal position

We went to the Philadelphia Mall for our tour of the main historic parts of the city.

1. Independence Hall/Old City Hall/Congress Hall

Old City Hall

Independence Hall

Congress Hall and Philosophical Hall

 2. Second and First Banks of the US

Second Bank of the US

3. Library Hall

Library Hall

love the cobblestone roads!

 4. Carpenter's Hall (where they conspired)

mid-town

 5. Christ Church

founding fathers went to church here

this font is like 400 years old or something crazy like that

6. Elfreth's Alley (the oldest neighborhood in America that is still a working neighborhood! Since 1702, 3,000 people have lived there. Very cute and old.)

7. Betsy Ross' House (no one is sure if it actually happened here, but they make money off of it, anyways)

 8. Ben Franklin's Grave (if you flip a penny onto the grave and make a wish, it will come true. Ashley's rolled off the grave, so what does that mean...??)

my wish is somewhere down there

Well this is about half-way! More to come about this very cold/very fun day.

Cherry Blossoms

Tourists...er...I mean...the cherry blossoms have arrived! They are actually all dead by now, but lucky for us, I took plenty of pictures. I ended up going to the tidal basin 6-7 ish times to check in on them. The first few times were in vain because it was super cold up until a couple of weeks ago. But once the warmth hit, so did the blossoms! And I mention the tourists because, yes, they have arrived. I took the risk of going to the tidal basin on a peak blossom Saturday...let's just say that I have been praying for more patience since the tourists have started pouring in. It was *almost* as crazy as the inauguration. Anyways, I don't want to taint the beauty of the blossoms, so I will stop complaining. Here are some of my shots :)

before=nakey trees

much better

addendum

This happens to me often: I write a blog, thinking it is so awesome, post it, and then I think of things afterwards that I should have said, but didn't. This also happens in real life. But that's another problem.

So, for your enjoyment, here are some anecdotes from my family's trip. In all it's glory. Uncut. 

1. At the mystery dinner, they had a pamphlet where you opened each tab when the next course was served.  It had clues and places to take notes and at the end it had a ticket that you detached and turned in with who you think dunnit. At the bottom of the ticket was a "why you think this person did it" section. My sister voted for the boy in the cast who had red hair. Sydney is also a red head so she wrote in the "why" section: "Because he is a ginger." Love that sister of mine.

my siblings being wild, as usual

2. At the Birds of Paradise exhibit at NatGeo, there is a "Dance Dance Evolution" game where the birds of paradise put on their dance moves with their colorful feathers and you follow the moves, competing with the other "bird" next to you. I competed against my mom and my brother and totally won. Fair and square with my own mad bird dancing skillz. But the rest of the trip, I couldn't hear the end of how I cheated at the bird dancing game. As if it's that big of a deal, guys. But, yes, I am the champion bird dancer, ok? 

Don't compare this to how humans really dance. I dare you.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/King_Bird_of_Paradise#p005wkk0

3. To reinforce how cold we were at Mount Vernon: My mom and I were waiting for our time to get into the house. And it was cold, so we walked in circles seeking refuge from the wind, at least. We snuck into exit of the house tour and stood in George's kitchen for about 30 minutes until it was time for our tour. It was an open kitchen, so we were squished against a wall away from the windows and doors. So pitiful. We simply hate being cold. 

The Ericksen's natural habitat. 

family time in the district

I was so so so excited to have my family in town this last weekend!!! Happy happy happy.
They got in last Wednesday night and we ate dinner at Nandos in Old Town. We also tried a cute ice cream place called Creamery where they make their own ice cream.

Thursday, we went to Mount Vernon, thanks to my awesome roommate Megan (she works there)! We had never been, so it was fun. The only thing was that it was really cold so we were a little bit miserable (really, Virginia? Really?). It may seem a bit macabre, but my favorite part was seeing Washington's tomb. I was two feet away from George! OK, that's a little weird, but it was cool.

George and Martha's tomb

memorial for Washington's slaves

we were cold

warming up after getting cold

We saw the George Washington Masonic Temple.

King Street

I can see the District from here!

We saw Christ Church in Old Town.
We ate at Bertucci's. SO GOOD.

my cute family

Then we visited the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial. It's probably my favorite memorial in DC. They have a bench for each victim lined up in order of the year they were born. The benches facing away from the Pentagon were the victims in the Pentagon and the ones facing towards the building were on the plane. It's so beautiful at night.

Friday, we visited where I work. We tried to do a couple of other things, but it was so crazy with the Cherry Blossom Festival tourists that it didn't work out. My mom and I went to the Art Gallery while the others went to the Holocaust Museum. Then we rode bikes around the tidal basin to see the...not...cherry blossoms...and the memorials. Then we saw a show at the Kennedy Center, ate at an Indian food place in Georgetown, and got cupcakes at Sprinkles for dessert.

Tom

Kennedy Center models

Saturday, we took at trip to the temple and visitor's center. I introduced my family to Shake Shack. Then we went to the National Geographic museum to the pirate and birds of paradise exhibits. My favorite part were the NatGeo photo gallery. So amazing.
That night, we went to a murder mystery dinner. The food wasn't very good, neither was the acting, but it was fun for the kids.

It was so great having Easter Sunday with my family. It was the best day I could ask for. Really. We went to Church and then my momma made my favorite salmon dinner. Then they left and I cried. It was a fun trip and I miss them! It was weird and cool having them in my world here in DC. Happy happy happy.